There’s no denying this is an important game for Oklahoma City. With the Utah series tied at 1-1, winning in Salt Lake would be a giant step in possibly winning the Northwest Division. Right now, the Thunder holds a three-game lead over the Jazz so not only is this another game up, it’s a leg up in a possible tie-breaker too. Keep Reading…

(Morning DT. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Thunder up.)

I know this is probably the third or fourth time this video has been posted, but I stumbled across it and couldn’t help but remember how awesome it was. The Broingtons are likely retired forever, but still, what little they gave us was almost enough to last a lifetime.

Apparently the Thunder could only go one game without keeping it close through the final stages, because it took until the last minute of the game Friday to secure a 111-107 victory in Phoenix over the Suns.

Oklahoma City has now had six of its last seven games come down to the final possessions, but has lost only two during that stretch. The latest victory featured a monster effort from Serge Ibaka, including two huge baskets in the final two minutes of the game to reclaim the lead for the Thunder, and another game to give Jeff Green supporters (like me) a reason to smile and ignore his detractors.

Green played a team-high 40 minutes and scored 28 points, the most he’s scored in regulation all season. He went 10-17 from the field, including 3-5 on 3-pointers, and added five boards to pace Oklahoma City on a night when Kevin Durant had “only” 24 points and didn’t make — or take — many crunch-time shots. Green also played effective defense, at least by the Thunder’s standards this year, limiting Phoenix counterpart Channing Frye to 13 points on 17 shots. Keep Reading…

The Suns gave the Thunder one of their worst losses of the season in December after Phoenix had just made the trade for Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus. The Suns only had seven active players and were playing without much firepower at all. Except OKC came out flat and dropped a bad one. Keep Reading…

Should the Thunder make a deal? Berry Tramel: “I say no. Unless some fools like the T-Wolves or Clippers want to give you something for nothing. But otherwise, any trade the Thunder could make would be acquiring short-term gain at long-term expense. Why would you do that? The NBA has very few Rocky Colavito-for-Harvey Kuenn trades. Very few deals in which both teams get equal talent. They’re mostly finances-based. No reason for the Thunder to shoot the moon this season; they’re not winning the NBA championship no matter who they get.”

Russell Westbrook will join Kevin Durant in Los Angeles as part of the Western Conference All-Star team, the NBA announced Thursday.

Westbrook, a native of Los Angeles and an alum of UCLA, surely will relish the fact that his first All-Star Game is in L.A.

The selection is well-deserved for Westbrook who has had a fantastic season. He’s the only player in the league averaging at least 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds a game. It’s kind of becoming the “Westbrook Line” as he was the only point guard with those type of numbers last year too.

There’s no doubt Westbrook should be there. As a third year player, he’s had 23 double-doubles and three triple-doubles, typing LeBron for tops in the league.

Joining Westbrook on the Western reserve squad is Deron Williams, Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol and Manu Ginobili. Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge are the big snubs in the West. Luckily, Westbrook isn’t joining them on that list.

A lot was made of Kevin Durant’s seemingly slow start where he still led the NBA in scoring, but his percentages were a little lower than the ridiculous numbers we’re accustomed to seeing. I tried to make the point that his start to this season was very similar to last season’s first month and that there’s no reason to fret.

And really, if you look back to last year where KD was absolutely amazing, you’ll notice he’s on a pretty similar path this season.

LAST SEASON

THIS SEASON

NOVEMBER

27.7 ppg (46.3 FG%, 23.7 3P%)

26.8 ppg (42.6 FG%, 23.3 3P%)

DECEMBER

29.7 ppg (49.3 FG%, 38.6 3P%)

29.4 ppg (51.7 FG%, 41.1 3P%)

JANUARY

32.1 ppg (51.9 FG%, 53.2 3P%)

30.5 ppg (47.5 FG%, 35.2 3P%)

I remember Durant saying during the first HORSE competition he won in 2009 after heating up late that he’s a slow cooker. Judging by the numbers, that’s true in real basketball too. Keep Reading…

Shaun Powell of NBA.com making an MVP case for KD: “The mission for Durant is to make sure he takes the Thunder with him as he keeps soaring. January was shaky as the Thunder went 7-6, with two wins coming in overtime when the Thunder were pushed to the brink by Minnesota and the Wizards, and another win on Durant’s buzzer-beater. The losses came against Miami, San Antonio, the Lakers, Nuggets and Hornets, the kind of company you must beat in order to send a message in time for the postseason.”

I’ve noticed this same thing that Darnell Mayberry points out and it drives me crazy: “For the life of me, I can’t understand why James Harden jumps several times after his 3-point tries. The only thing I can think of is he’s not shooting with any confidence. It looks as though he’s willing the ball into the basket — and it never works. Somebody needs to pull him aside and tell him to take a shot with confidence. Jump once. Follow through. And trust your skills. Go back and watch the tape on this one. When Harden does trusts his stroke (watch his 3 w/ about six minutes left in the third), his shots go in. When he doesn’t (twice in the first half), they miss badly.” Keep Reading…